Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper feeder which stores recording paper provided for image formation, and an image forming apparatus equipped with the paper feeder.
Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus has usually been equipped with a paper feeder that is loaded with and stores recording paper used for image formation, where the paper feeder is configured to be inserted/drawn to/from the body of the image forming apparatus to enable replenishment of the recording paper stored in the paper feeder. There has been proposed such paper feeder that is loaded with the recording paper on a movable base plate and moves up/down the base plate according to a volume of the recording paper to be able to accommodate a large volume thereof. There has also been proposed a paper feeder including a first accommodation unit and a second accommodation unit which are arranged side by side with respect to the recording paper so that, once the recording paper in the first accommodation unit is consumed, the recording paper in the second accommodation unit is collectively shifted to the first accommodation unit (refer to JP 2004-262606 A).
According to the paper feeder described in JP 2004-262606 A, the recording paper is loaded in a long edge feed (LEF) orientation according to the shape of the base plate of the first accommodation unit, whereby two bundles of recording paper can be loaded side by side in a conveyance direction to be able to accommodate a large volume of paper. However, the two bundles of recording paper cannot be accommodated when the recording paper is accommodated in an accommodation orientation such as a short edge feed (SEF) orientation (orientation of the recording paper loaded in the paper feeder) that is different from the shape of the base plate. Moreover, the recording paper loaded on the base plate of the first accommodation unit sticks out from the base plate, in which case the bundle of recording paper in the first accommodation unit possibly collapses and cannot be fed into the image forming apparatus when the base plate is moved up.